Marked for Michael Smith
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Winston Smith out for 128 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Southern United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tommy Reid damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market8 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Monty De Vries and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Southern United have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Market8 Feb 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Southern United, another week without a signature from Michael Smith.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
James Lockyer gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say James Lockyer is on it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Market8 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Monty De Vries’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
21 days out for Sitiveni Begg after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Southern United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Monty De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Looking ahead4 Jan 2027
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Southern United know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Sitiveni Begg out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Southern United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Southern United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Monty De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tim Van Hattum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 8.34 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match26 Dec 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Alex Nelson: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Dec 2026
49 days out for Sitiveni Begg after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Southern United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michael Smith commits to Southern United for another 1 years.
Match5 Dec 2026
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Monty De Vries and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Dec 2026
1‑2 to Auckland City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match7 Dec 2026
Position 7, 3 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
Monty De Vries damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market9 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market9 Nov 2026
Michael Smith has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Southern United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Monty De Vries and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
Team Wellington left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jai Payne is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jai Colvey and Southern United agree another 3 years.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
Hawke's Bay United top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Monty De Vries
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 1‑4 beating by Canterbury United was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tim Van Hattum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Liberato Sutton
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match31 Oct 2026
Canterbury United held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Southern United answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Southern United dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Southern United, another week without a signature from Michael Smith.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Monty De Vries
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Monty De Vries was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ryan Kirwan has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 5 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Winston Smith and Southern United agree another 3 years.
Market26 Oct 2026
The clock does Michael Smith’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Southern United could ask drops and the wages Michael Smith can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
Monty De Vries damages knee ligaments — 44 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 0‑4 beating by Auckland City was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tim Van Hattum is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” James Lockyer and Southern United agree another 3 years.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
5 academy graduates step up at Southern United
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Market19 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ben Barbarouses has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market19 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dane Tuiloma has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Monty De Vries
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market12 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Southern United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market12 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. James Lockyer is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Michael Smith has agreed terms with Team Wellington for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Monty De Vries and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Monty De Vries
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Ben Smith
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Market5 Oct 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Marco Colvey may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Monty De Vries
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alex Barbarouses is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Monty De Vries damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market21 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tim Van Hattum is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market21 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Stefan Garbett
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Garbett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Southern United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Monty De Vries and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
Monty De Vries damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market14 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Monty De Vries and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Market14 Sep 2026
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Southern United money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Southern United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Michael Smith reports back to Southern United with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market7 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and Southern United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Southern United close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ben Smith is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Lockyer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tim Van Hattum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Monty De Vries damages knee ligaments — 93 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 93 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Monty De Vries was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market31 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Southern United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad31 Aug 2026
James Lockyer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francis Waine and Southern United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Monty De Vries
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Auckland City for Winston Smith was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Southern United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Monty De Vries and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Monty De Vries damages knee ligaments — 107 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 107 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market17 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Monty De Vries and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market17 Aug 2026
Stefan Nelson has left for Auckland City in a $89.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad17 Aug 2026
James Lockyer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Monty Reid and Southern United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Winston Just hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jai Payne and Southern United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Monty De Vries falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tim Van Hattum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Southern United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Southern United, another week without a signature from Michael Smith.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Auckland City have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market3 Aug 2026
Bill Wood told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Bill Wood has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Southern United.